Farmington businesses come together for gallery walk

FARMINGTON — Three downtown Farmington businesses will be holding a gallery walk on Friday.

The walk begins at 5 p.m. and will last until 8 p.m. Three Rivers Women's Collective & In Cahoots! Gallery, B&B Bridal & Tuxedo Junction and Wal-Art will host the gallery walk.

Liz Stannard, a Downtown Association committee member, said the city sponsors four art walks a year and in between those art walks local businesses get together to hold smaller walks that coincide with show openings. Friday's gallery walk will be one of those walks.

Stannard said she encourages people to go to the gallery walk because there will be a wide variety of art to view.

B&B Bridal & Tuxedo Junction, located at 228 W. Main, will be featuring the pottery of Evelyn Smith and Nancy Tso. Smith creates miniatures while Tso has functional pieces, such as plates and cups.

Wal-Art, located at 422 W. Main, will be showing the work of Michael Billie, a local encaustic artist. Wines of the San Juan will be at the show providing wine tasting and sales.

Three Rivers Women's Collective & in Cahoots! Gallery, located at 109 N. Allen, will be holding a reception for its annual mask exhibit during the walk. Local musician Charles Stacey will be performing during the reception.

Sue Johnson, a gallery member, said it started having a mask exhibit three years ago. She said the gallery chose February for the mask exhibit because it coincides with Mardi Gras.

Anyone who wants to participate can fill out an entry form and submit up to three masks, Johnson said.

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There is a $10 fee.

And people can vote for their favorite masks. There will be three categories -- most original, most whimsical and overall best of show. Voting begins Feb. 12 and runs through Feb. 23. Johnson said that after the voting is finished money raised through the submission fees will be divided up among the three winners and a certificate will be placed next to the winning masks. The masks will be displayed until March 9.

Johnson said in the past there have been a lot of interesting submissions. Some that stood out were a mask made out of an animal hip bone with the hole in the bone for the eye and another made from a piece of dried gourd with copper wire and beads.

Johnson said in addition to shows, the gallery provides art classes on a variety of subjects throughout the year. Grants from groups such as New Mexico Arts and New Mexico Women's Foundation have enable the gallery to supplement the price of the classes.

"We're always looking for people who'd like to join us and participate," Johnson said.